Are Airlines To Blame For Surly Skies?

Christine Negroni
, ContributorI write about the business of aviation and travel.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

I want to be writing about the glories of flight. I want to share with fellow aviation and travel fans the latest developments and wonders of this great world of ours. But again today, I must channel Michael Corleone in Godfather 3.

In the latest news from the surly skies, two men got into a noisy and disruptive fist fight on an All Nippon Airways plane awaiting departure from Narita to Los Angeles on May 1, alarming fellow travelers and causing babies to squall.

Who can say whether these disturbing events are happening more frequently or if the ubiquity of cell phone cameras just makes us more aware of them. Either way, one has to wonder what is causing people to behave this way?

ANA issued an apology to its customers. But before you ask yourself what the airline has to do with it, consider this. Over the past decade, the divide between airline class of service has deepened. While some passengers can shower and sleep under cozy comforters, others fold themselves into increasingly smaller seats. This week, United and American both announced they will begin packing the economy sections of their new airliners even tighter.

It's well known among social scientists that people do not do well in confined and crowded spaces. Too much proximity to our fellow humans causes stress, increased blood pressure, higher heart rates and - this is key - less tolerance for frustration.

But airlines profit from the discomfort of the passengers in the cheap seats because it enables the up-sell. Look at the growth in new premium seating options; comfort economy seats, business class beds and over-the-top cushy first class "apartments." On some airlines, premium seats make up as much as one-third of the airliner.